Kate and Matt Wymore opened Rally Recreation, a game spot near Summit High School, to help kids improve their mental health and get them playing games that don’t involve a screen. These include the games they grew up with, like pingpong, pool and foosball.

Rally Recreation, which opened in January, is open daily, with plans to have longer hours this summer. The Wymores have been running it themselves while both working full-time, and are hoping to hire seasonal employees. They want Rally Recreation to be a place where people can decide to come and play pingpong on a whim, and find other people to play with.

“One of our kids is in eighth grade now, and a lot of those kids were going to The Grove (food hall) over here, and didn’t really have a good place to hang out,” said Matt Wymore. “Part of it was having a good place that they could all go and hang out after school, and the other big driver was we had been worrying about how much our kids were getting screen time and things like that, and we wanted to have something that was fun and positive and got kids off their computers and actually playing together in real life.”

Though the target audience is kids ages 10 to 16 and families, single adults or couples come in the evenings and play as well. Adults who want to play pool but don’t want to take their kids to a bar may find their way here, teaching their kids how to play pingpong.

“People always have fun here. We get some older couples, sometimes, come in and they’ll start playing pingpong. It doesn’t take very long, you just hear them laughing and having a great time,” said Matt Wymore.

The spot is especially popular with fifth- and sixth-graders. Rally Recreation also hosts parties and bookings are already filling up for the holidays.

“These are the games that we liked when we were growing up, so putting a space here would be great as an option for kids to have off of their screens,” said Kate Wymore. “Especially for kids who don’t play a lot of sports, still having a space where they can meet up and have fun in person rather than virtually.”

Rally Recreation also serves as a spot where kids can be dropped off by parents who know they’ll be safe. Kids who aren’t as interested in outdoor activities or sports don’t have many other options for recreation in Bend, said Kate Wymore.

“Before they can drive, there’s not a lot for them to do without requiring parents to take them to places,” she said. “To go mountain biking or doing something on the river, it still requires a parent most of the time. We were trying to find a place that parents would come and check out, see that it’s safe, and either hang out while their kids play, or 12 and older can be dropped off.”

Pool, air hockey, the electronic basketball hoop and pingpong are all popular.

“People have told us, don’t bother getting pool tables, kids’ll never play. They love it, they have fun,” said Matt Wymore. “When we teach them how to actually play shuffleboard, they actually have a ton of fun with that as well.”

The owners are planning to host special event nights such as ‘80s Night, and to turn the storage office into a lounge with couches and possibly karaoke.

“I think people are starting to see the value of these old games,” said Matt Wymore.